ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shaharyar Khan has blamed India for politicising the game of cricket.

Speaking to media persons on Wednesday at the Parliament House after a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Inter-provincial Coordination, Shaharyar said Pakistan was not begging India to play cricket against them.

“Both India and Pakistan have to play bilateral cricket according to Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between them,” he said.

“Pakistan will plead its case at the upcoming meeting of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). We have consulted our lawyers to advise us on the issue.

“Though the ACC session is related to development, we will discuss the issue with India about the bilateral series on the sideline,” he added.

In 2014, PCB and BCCI had signed MoUs for six bilateral series to be contested during eight years from 2015 to 2023, with Pakistan staging four of them. But because of India’s refusal, this MoU could not be implemented.

The last full series between the countries, including Test and ODIs, was held in 2007 when Pakistan toured India.

Since then, Pakistan have played one limited-overs series in India in 2012, however, both teams have met in some multi-team ICC events, such as World Cup.

Talking about Pakistan’s upcoming series against Australia, he said the pitches should be balanced which would support both batting and bowling.

“In India, one finds turning wickets while New Zealand sports only green-top tracks. There should be balance,” he said and hoped Pakistan will perform well in Australia.

Earlier, briefing the Standing Committee meeting, which was chaired by Senator Mushahid Ullah Khan, the PCB chairman said they were taking various initiatives for improvement of cricket in the country.

He added that the PCB was establishing cricket academics in various cities.

“A cricket academy named after Hanif Mohammad will be opened in Karachi soon. Some more academies will also be inaugurated in Abbottabad, Balochistan and Peshawar, besides a mini academy in Hyderabad,” he said.

He said that in various parts of the country cricket grounds were being used for weddings, political processions and other occasions, and urged provincial governments to give possession of grounds to the PCB so that they could be looked after properly.

He said the Balochistan chief minister had assured them of giving a place for establishing a cricket ground in Gwadar.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2016